Some Thoughts

[triceps]

I've been saddled with GAD for 50 of my 65 years on this earth. Finding this forum has helped me with a much greater but nowhere near complete understanding of Hypochondria. I'm aware of a couple differences between our anxiety disorders. I get many, many anxiety-related physical symptoms. The first difference is being able to respect/accept when my doctor tells me that the symptoms that I've related to him are anxiety-related. Another difference seems to be how I approach my many physical symptoms that consistently crop up. A hypochondriac seems to approach their physical symptoms by assuming they are real first and trying to fit the symptom(s) to a major disease. As a GAD sufferer, I'm lucky that my thinking first assumes that any of my physical symptoms are anxiety-related. I am not able to fully relate to what a hypocondriac suffers through. I know what I go through and wouldn't wish any anxiety disorder on anyone, I think including my enemies.

 

[He Man]

Tri, as a person who started experiencing chronic anxiety 50 years ago.. how was the response (to your condition) in the late 60s, early 70s (?)
Did u find mostly sympathetic, knowledgeable doctors, etc. Or was the response more indifferent/ignorant.. or mixed.

Did u have an instinctive feeling it was chronic anxiety (?) Was anxiety not really on the radar (of medical science) yet..

 

[triceps]

Tri, as a person who started experiencing chronic anxiety 50 years ago.. how was the response (to your condition) in the late 60s, early 70s (?)
Did u find mostly sympathetic, knowledgeable doctors, etc. Or was the response more indifferent/ignorant.. or mixed.

Did u have an instinctive feeling it was chronic anxiety (?) Was anxiety not really on the radar (of medical science) yet..

He Man, those are good questions as there has been many changes over the years. I wasn't aware of anxiety when I first started experiencing it. I just thought I was going crazy. I got really lucky with the first doctor I saw, a neurologist, who pretty much determined immediately that I had anxiety, even before the CAT scan. (MRI's hadn't been developed yet) He started me on Xanax which made a huge difference in my comfort level. I then get lucky with my psychiatrist who was involved in two drug studies for anxiety. In the beginning there wasn't much therapy as my shrink just said " you've just got it (anxiety), always will and we'll concentrate on living the best life possible with it." CBT and other therapies hadn't been developed yet.

The climate regarding mental illness in general was much different back then. You felt that you had to hide your disorder and although attitudes have improved, there's still a long way to go before mental and physical illnesses will be treated equally.

 

[Hurt&Hopeful]

@triceps thanks so much for sharing your story. I'm 39, but I've still seen huge improvements in how mental illness is viewed and treated in my lifetime. My grandmother suffered from anxiety and was diagnosed with 'female hysteria.' Nothing a hysterectomy and some electroshock therapy couldn't fix, right? My dad was diagnosed towards the beginning of the Prozac era, so definitely better, but as you say, still something shameful to be hidden. I feel more freedom to discuss anxiety these days. It sounds like you had very open-minded doctors from the start - that's so great.

I know the feeling of thinking everything must be anxiety-related, too. I tend to ignore symptoms because they are 'just anxiety.' I obsess over other things, but not my health. It's interesting to me how anxiety attacks us in different ways, and I've learned a lot about hypochondria here, too.

Best wishes to you!